Description

Otodus obliquus
Late Paleocene
Ouled Abdoun Basin, Phosphate Deposits
Morocco

1.4 inch tooth.

Otodus is a shark genus that appeared a few million years after the K/T extinction and became the apex marine predator of the Paleocene and Early Eocene.  It is the ancestor of Carcharocles megalodon with transitional species in between.

Deformed (or pathologic) shark teeth are found in the fossil record just as they are today.  Deformities can be caused by genetic mutation. disease, or injury.  This specimen appears to have been impacted while it was still forming within the jaw.  The shark might have bitten into something hard like a large bone while feeding or fighting.